Chapter 25: The Temple of the AncientsCaptain Arkama's Imperial carrier flew low over the rocky landscape of Gelma 2. With reckless abandon, it was weaving its way through giant pillars of rock in search of an access to the cavernous chamber that would lead it and its maniacal captain to The Temple of the Ancients.'We are closssse now!' said Arkama's symbiotic eye patch, 'I can feel the power of the ancientsssss!''I hope this power is worth the price we've paid!' said Captain Arkama, 'The loss of a Kathaar battle cruiser is not something to be taken lightly. I once captained the prize of the Alliance fleet!''The power we will soon possess will be greater than a thousand battle cruisers!' said the eye patch.Arkama checked his radar instruments and found to his dismay that 3 red blips were closing in on his cruiser's position from behind.'I thought we had already dealt with those human pests!' said Arkama.'Pay no heed to them! Stay on coursssse!' said the eye patch as a laser blast rocked their ship.An image suddenly appeared on their view screen; it was Shiro Hagen.'That was your final warning!' said a determined Captain Hagen. 'Surrender or be destroyed!'Despite Arkama’s symbiotic counterpart’s advice he responded to the threat and fired several bolts of lightning energy at his attackers from the tail gun of his carrier craft.The Dai-X fighters managed to dodge Arkama’s attack although John Lee’s Legtrax nearly collided with a canyon wall in his haste to avoid being hit by the energy blasts.‘Whoa, that was a little too close for comfort guys!’ said John Lee.‘Well Shiro, we have our answer. Let’s take him out!’ said Hercules.‘OK! Let’s finish this! said Shiro, who was secretly happy at the Imperial Alliance Captain’s refusal to surrender.A high speed chase ensued as Captain Arkama’s carrier tried to outrun his pursuers in the maze like tunnels and passages that had been carved into the canyon rock. Only the most intrepid or worthy would be able to navigate through this labyrinth; a final test for those who truly wished to know the secret of The Temple of the Ancients.The 4 ships flew around the spiralling tunnel systems, exchanging laser fire while avoiding obstacles made of rock. They were flying at breakneck speeds with little room for error; one wrong turn and they would be smashed into pieces.Arkama checked his instruments. There was a clearing ahead of them.‘The chamber of the ancientssss!’ said the eye patch.Legtrax was right behind them and took advantage of Arkama and his symbiont’s split second loss of concentration firing a salvo of shots at the fleeing carrier craft and scoring several direct hits on its stern.The carrier flew out of the tunnel of rock with flames spewing out of its insect-like back. It now found itself in a massive spherical chamber. The spaghetti like tunnels they had travelled through could be seen in all directions, as though they had travelled inside the body of a great beast through its rocky veins.Although spherical in shape there was a large golden square at its base which the stricken carrier craft was fighting to reach.The Dai-X fighters entered the vast chamber a split second later and fired further laser blasts at the out of control and blazing imperial vessel.The carrier crashed into the floor of the chamber breaking into two. The stern exploded while the front section rolled uncontrollably across the chamber floor.‘We got ‘em!’ said Hercules.‘Great shooting guys, If I do say so myself!’ said John Lee.‘Let’s land and make sure, before we celebrate!’ said Shiro. ‘This creep has more lives than a cat!’The Dai-X fighters landed and Shiro, Hercules and Lee disembarked in their environmental suits, armed and ready.They looked at the large golden area before them. The square measured 50 foot by 50 foot and was covered in ornate markings and familiar sinister faces.‘My god!’ said Hercules, ‘Those faces, they’re just like Makara’s eye patch!’‘Just like Captain Arkama’s too!’ said Shiro.They were indeed the very same artifacts that the Imperial Master had found in the depths of the Thalian zone and used as symbiotic counterparts for his super soldiers, Makara and Arkama. The golden faces were more than just a receptacle for the ancients, they could be used as a key to unlock a prison cell.The surface of the golden square seemed to be missing several of these face masks as there were many blank spaces where a symbiont eye patch should be.‘Lee, guard this area!’ said Shiro, ‘Me and Herc will check out the wreckage. If anyone but us comes near the golden square, shoot to kill!’‘Ok Shiro.’ said Lee nervously, as he watched his comrades venture over to the smouldering wreckage of the Imperial carrier.Suddenly from Lee’s left he heard a sound like a tin can being thrown to the ground. He turned and saw Captain Arkama approaching the area of gold.Lee didn’t hesitate and open fired with his laser pistol. His blasts however passed harmlessly through Arkama. ‘A Hologram!’ said Lee, as he heard the cries of Hercules and Shiro pleading with him to turn around.The real Arkama swiftly moved behind Lee and disarmed him while holding his sword to the neck of the young space pilot.‘Put your weapons down, or I will take the head of your plump friend here!’ said a battle damaged Arkama.‘Do it!’ said the symbiotic eye patch.Shiro and Hercules complied and threw their weapons down.‘You won’t get away with this Arkama!’ said Shiro.‘You fools!’ said Arkama, ‘You should have killed me when you had the chance. Your compassion for your friend is what makes you humans weak. Now the power of the ancients will be mine!’Arkama edged his way back onto the golden square in the direction of a vacant space where a mask should reside.‘Don’t do it you maniac!’ said Hercules.‘The Temple of the Ancients is not what you think it is, Arkama!’ reasoned Shiro, ‘There is no power to gain. Only a trap to be sprung!’‘Liesss! Insssssolence! Liesss!’ said Arkama’s eye patch.‘You are about to awaken a monster that will destroy everything!’ said Shiro.‘And you’re first on the menu pal!’ said Hercules.Arkama was startled by this revelation. Memories of his other life started flooding back, questioning the logic of his symbiont once more. Were the humans bluffing? Had his counterpart been misled by false memories?‘What if you have been wrong about this place?’ said Arkama to his symbiotic eye patch.‘Do as I tell you!’ said the eye patch, ‘I can just as easily do this without you now!’A surge of pain the likes of which Arkama had never experienced before was sent through the remains of his organic body. His cyberneticaly enhanced brain was on fire!‘Damn you!’ screamed Arkama as he threw John Lee to the ground.‘You leave me no choice!’ said the eye patch.Arkama’s symbiont wiped out the remains of his memory in one fell swoop. Two lives died at that moment: The Brave Techno Knight, Zir Kode and the evil Imperial Captain he had become. Only Arkama’s motor functions remained and were now under control of the symbiotic eye patch who threw his body onto the ground and clawed out his own eye with his robotic hand. Still under direct control the body placed the eye patch into the vacant space onto the golden square.Arkama’s body disintegrated instantly and the ancient spi
rit residing in the eye patch was trapped in a petrified state.Their insane quest had been for nought!The golden square now started to glow and revealed itself to be in actual fact a cube as it elevated itself from the ground.The whole chamber shook and the reunited space pilots could only look on as the temple-like structure with it’s intricately carved columns hovered in mid air in front of them.A spherical energy field enveloped the chamber and swiftly took its entire contents, including the Temple, Shiro, Hercules, John Lee and the Dai-X fighters on an express elevator ride to the planet’s surface.In far less time than it took to get there they were now planet side again with the glowing golden cube-like structure hovering in mid air.To some this was known as The Temple of the Ancients. To others it was The Prison of the Omnibeast!

Just read my story bible and thought it would be a good idea to tease reveal the universe threatening Omnibeast at the conclusion of the last posted chapter.So a here's the newly extended ending for chapter 25....To some this was known as The Temple of the Ancients. To others it was The Prison of the Omnibeast! 'What happens now?' said John Lee, 'It's just floating there!''Maybe the stories were wrong!' said Shiro, 'Or maybe Arkama's symbiont wasn't strong enough to release the monster!'Just as Shiro had completed his sentence a sub bass droning sound started to reverberate from the hovering temple.'Looks like we spoke to soon!' said Hercules, as the 3 space pilots watched as the Temple started to rotate in mid air accompanied by the the low pitched bass drone.'I don't like the sound of that fellas!' said John Lee.The temple's rotation increased and in a short time it was revolving so fast that it just appeared as a blur to the three spectators from Earth. And then all of a sudden it stopped and became stationary again, but with one difference. The giant temple doors had opened!A second later, a piercing high pitched squeal entered the minds of Shiro, Hercules and John Lee and filled them with great dread.Then all was silent again as the universe held its breath for a brief moment as its worst nightmare once more walked the earth.

Chapter 26: Behold The OmnibeastThe Omnibeast towered over the 3 insect-like earthlings on the unforgiving planet known as Gelma 2.The ultimate cosmic evil had just been released from millennia after millennia of imprisonment by the actions of a mad Alliance captain and his ancient symbiont counterpart. They had been tricked. They had all been tricked!The horned beast was corporeal, but as the young space pilots gazed at its dark features they could make out images of the many star systems that the monster had consumed long ago. It had no facial features other than two glowing red eyes that shone brightly like stars.‘I think we’re in trouble!’ said Hercules.‘Quickly everyone, get to the fighters!’ said Shiro, ‘The Dai-X is the universe’s only hope now!’The heroic warriors jumped into their ships and took off in the nick of time as the Omnibeast’s giant clawed foot crashed down onto the lunar landscape where they had been seconds earlier.‘OK, Lee, Hercules, Dai-X Junction!’ said Shiro.The three component parts that made up the Dai-X, Braincom, Mainbody and Legtrax docked with each other. Professor Hagen had made refinements to the combining process and thus the junction was far more quicker and dynamic than of old.In a few short seconds the ultimate in human and alien technology, The Dai-X was standing toe to toe against the ultimate cosmic evil.‘Hercules, let him have it!’ said Shiro.‘Right!’ said Hercules, who with a waggle of his joystick controls unleashed a mighty right cross which knocked the lumbering beast to the ground.‘Hey, this guy aint so tough!’ said Hercules.‘Maybe, Lamia was wrong about this beast!’ said John Lee.The Omnibeast however, soon got back on to its feet and responded in kind, delivering a powerful uppercut that sent the Dai-X flying through the air before crashing to the ground with a giant thump.‘I take that back!’ said John Lee, once again using humour to disguise the fact that he had never been so afraid in his entire life.The two behemoth’s continued to trade blows, but it soon became clear that as the fight went on the Omnibeast was increasing in strength.The titanic battle was being watched in the ethereal plane by The F01 and The Imperial Master who was now the dominant force in the ghostly netherworld. Dominant or not, he was still trapped in this realm as long as The F01 chose to remain there.‘Will you have your friends die at the hands of the Omnibeast?’ said The Imperial Master, ‘Would you let the universe be consumed, just to keep me imprisoned here?’‘Your evil knows no bounds!’ said The F01, ‘It is you who have threatened the very existence of the universe!’‘Yes, everything was planned...preordained!’ said The Imperial Master, ‘And you all fell into the trap! You see I once awakened the Omnibeast by accident a long, long time ago. I managed to defeat him with the aid of some naive allies who I soon disposed of after the beast was sent back to its prison. I then had the temple transported to the Thalian Zone and hidden deep within a remote planet. It was insurance!Should I ever be defeated by you, Arkama’s symbiont had orders to release the Omnibeast, although it was under the false impression that it was to receive some great power handed down by the ancients once it opened the doors of the fabled Temple of the Ancients. Ha! The fool. It would not have come within a hundred thousand millitons of the Thalian Zone if it had known the truth.’‘You would sacrifice your own kind?’ said The F01.‘Of course! Gladly!’ said The Imperial Master, ‘The weak flesh was never Thalian in the first place and the symbiont was a mere shadow of an ancient! The power of the ancients is nothing compared to the one who knows how to manipulate its power!My plan was flawless!If I had perished at your hands then the Omnibeast would be my ultimate revenge.If I was imprisoned, as is the case, then its release would give me leverage and a way back to the corporeal plane.’‘I won’t let your evil return to the universe!’ said Lamia.‘Then you are happy to sacrifice your own kind?‘ said The Imperial Master, ‘If you don’t act soon, there won’t be a universe to save from me! Even with my great power, I was only able to defeat the Omnibeast with the aid of others with the affliction of goodness. It is growing in power with every second. I have read the ancient scrolls pertaining to this monster. It has consumed entire star systems! The only beings strong enough to stop it are all dead now, well...all but one.’The Imperial Master smiled as The F01 realised what he meant. She continued to watch forlornly as the battle continued. She would have to make a choice soon before it was too late!The ferocious battle taking place on Gelma 2 was becoming more and more one sided. Dai-X's main laser canon was doing little more than making the monstrous beast more angry, while the creature’s own laser beams originating from his evil red eyes was draining the Dai-X of it’s precious power reserves.The Dai-X dropped to its knees as the beams continued to suck the life out of its alien power core. In 30 seconds the power core would be drained completely and the mighty Dai-X would be nothing more than a giant statue ready to be turned into scrap metal by its ancient adversary.‘Looks like this is it!’ said Hercules, ‘What a damn shame!’‘We can’t go out like this!’ said Shiro, ‘There must be another way!’‘Power’s down to 10%!’ said John Lee, ‘We’re going to have to bail out!’‘Where to Lee?’ said Hercules, ‘That thing will swat us like a fly!’‘Wait a second you guys.’ said John Lee, ‘Power returning...20%...40%...60%...80%...100%...It’s off the chart!’The Dai-X was engulfed in white light. 3 minds became one and met with another not of this plane of existence. The F01 had joined the battle! Much to the approval of The Imperial MasterWhen the light dissipated the Dai-X returned into view, but was now made of crystal. It looked far more ancient and ceremonial than its utilitarian counterpart and there were no sign of any human pilots.It stood up and repelled the aliens eye beams with ones of its own. Bright white light pushed back the draining red energy rail, causing the Omnibeast’s eyes to overload and explode.The beast screamed out which caused the Dai-X to vibrate and create a melodic pattern of musical notes like a wind chime. The Crystal Dai-X pulled its sword from its scabbard and taking advantage of the Omnibeast’s loss of sight hacked away at the monster’s cosmic looking exterior.The tables had turned and now it was the great beast that was on its knees.The crystal X-Sabre charged up and when at full power the Dai-X plunged it through the Omnibeast’s heart.The monster gave out one final ear piercing shriek and then was silent. It’s body broke up and was pulled back into the temple. Once all its remains had been collected the temple doors slammed shut and it dropped back into the chasm.Another flash of light later and the Dai-X returned back to normal.‘What just happened?’ said Hercules.‘It was like our minds were connected together in some way!’ said John Lee.‘Along with another,’ said Shiro, ‘Lamia!’The F01 had indeed used all her remaining power to save her friends and in doing so had released the Imperial Master back into the corporeal plane.The ground started to rumble and they could hear laughter echoing into the distance.‘Why do I have the feeling, we’ve got rid of one problem only to have gained
another.’ said Shiro.Hercules was about to reply when the Dai-X was hit in the back by a powerful laser blast which knocked it to the ground.A voice then came over their com channel. A voice that they’d thought they would never hear again.‘Your problems have only just begun humans.’ said the voice, ‘The Revenge of Makara will be slow and painful!’The Dai-X turned its head to see the mighty Delta-Z piloted by Commander Makara standing over it.‘No, it can’t be. We killed you!’ said Shiro.‘You will find I don’t die that easily!’ said Makara, who activating her force sabre concluded, ‘I wonder if the same can be said of you!’

Chapter 27: Final RevengeThe energized blade of the Delta-Z's force sabre hummed eerily in the evil mechanoid’s hand. With one single thought command from its pilot, Commander Makara, the sword lunged towards the Dai-X’s neck.The Dai-X only just managed to roll aside in time leaving the energy enhanced sword to cleave Gelma rock instead.The Dai-X got to its feet, X-Sabre in hand.‘I don’t know how that Alliance freak is still alive.’ said Hercules, ‘I thought we punched her lights out permanently.’‘She has a mechanoid just like us!’ said John Lee, ‘How?!’‘No time for questions guys!’ said Shiro, ‘If it’s a duel you want, Makara, then a duel is what you will get!’The two giant mechanoid’s sabres clashed producing a trail of lightning and a giant thunder clap. ‘Your feeble Dai-X is no match for the might of my Delta-Z, you pitiful human scum!’ said Makara, who parrying the initial clash of sabres found a space and struck the Dai-X’s shoulder which produced a pained electronic grunt from the giant mech.‘How’s that shoulder Hercules?’ said Shiro.‘Armour damage only!’ said Hercules, ‘Servo motors are running just fine. But we better not get hit too many more times by that thing!’The Delta-Z trying to pull a combination attack lunged for a second strike, this time targeting the Dai-Z’s legs, but space pilot John Lee was not asleep on this occasion. The Dai-X somersaulted away, avoiding the sabre’s deadly cutting arc.Now with the imitative, and a bit of distance from it and the Delta-Z, the Dai-X raised its right arm and fired its two super torpedoes at Makara’s giant mech.The Delta-Z just stood there and took the full impact of the twin explosions.When the smoke had cleared The Delta-Z was still standing and completely unscathed.‘Man! Not even a scratch!’ said Hercules, ‘Her armour is tough!’The Delta-Z started to run towards the Dai-X, but midway between the two of the it thrusted into the air. Then with a swivel and an extension of its leg, it propelled itself in the direction of the mechanoid, delivering a powerful flying kick to its chest which knocked the Dai-X to the ground and causing it to drop the X-Sabre.Makara’s mechanoid emitted a booming electronic laugh as it stood over the Dai-X once more. Makara spoke through the electronically altered tones of her behemoth.‘This is too easy!’ said the Delta-Z, ‘I thought you would at least put up some kind of fight for your worthless lives!’‘The fight’s not over yet Makara!’ said Shiro, as he tilted Dai-X’s head a little and fired two beams of red light from its eyes at the Delta-Z’s sword hand. The evil mechanoid gave out a synthesized scream as the claw-like hand melted causing its sabre to drop to the ground.’‘Great shot Shiro!’ said John Lee.‘Yeah, that showed her!’ said Hercules.‘I think its time to get something off our chest!’ said Shiro, who sent a targeting vector to his comrade housed in Mainbody.The Dai-X got to its feet once more and opened the doors to its chest compartments, revealing the multiple rocket launcher system housed there. In an instant, hundreds of rockets were spat out on a course above Makara’s position.The rockets impacted a nearby canyon ridge which caused an avalanche of rock to fall onto the Delta-Z, entombing it in a granite prison. ‘Take that Makara!’ said Hercules.‘Do you think she’s really dead this time!’ said John Lee.‘Nothing could have survived that avalanche, Lee!’ said Shiro.But just as Shiro had finished his sentence a low pitched sound could be heard coming from the makeshift tomb.The rock started to glow; first red, then white. A second later a massive explosion of molten rock erupted revealing the undamaged Delta-Z.‘That just can’t be!’ said Hercules.‘That thing seems to be practically immune to all forms of kinetic attack!’ said Shiro, ‘The only hit we’ve scored so far was with an energy weapon! It’s time to use X-Tracers!’The Dai-X got into the required stance and fired off a staggered burst of X shaped energy rays. The Delta-Z was too fast for them this time though and was able to activate a spherical energy barrier. The glowing red shielding absorbed the deadly energy attack with ease.Makara cackled.‘You must surely realise now that you have no chance of winning!’ said Makara, ‘This world will be your tomb!’With the threat of Dai-X’s X-Tracer taken care of, Makara lowered her defensive screen and unleashed a powerful energy beam from the Delta Laser mounted in her mech’s head unit.The beam struck the Dai-X’s left knee; cutting right through and severing the lower leg unit that John Lee currently inhabited. It then proceeded to do the same to the right knee.The Dai-X’s upper body toppled back onto the rocky ground and the two remaining lower leg stumps fell over like a pair of skittles.The Delta-Z stomped over the leg units; crushing them and causing sparks and electricity to fly everywhere.‘Lee!? Do you read me? Lee!?’ said Shiro, fearing that his comrade might be crushed in the mangled metal.‘If you’ve killed him, Makara I‘ll...’ started Hercules, but he was interrupted by Makara’s sinister voice over their com channel.‘You will do nothing but die!’ said Makara, as she began cutting The Dai-X’s arm offs, one by one with the unstoppable energy beam.‘Shiro, blast her with the X-Tracers again!’ said a desperate Hercules.‘I can’t! There’s not enough power for another burst.’ said Shiro.Once the Delta-Z had finished removing the Dai-X’s arms it leant over the disabled mechanoid and opened its chest compartments. Two large drills shot out and pierced the mech’s chest armour and burrowed their way inside. ‘Bail out Hercules!’ said Shiro, ‘Grab the core and bail out!’Hercules begrudgingly complied and pressed a button that opened a small hatch in front of his feet. A small energy pod the size of an orange was passed up to him by a mechanical lift. This was the alien power core of the Dai-X.He grabbed the orb and then, opening the cockpit, he made his way out of the carnage and in the remains of Legtrax.Shiro did the same to the amusement of Makara.‘Haha! Like rats leaving a sinking ship!’ she said.Hercules ran over to what was left of Legtrax’s cockpit unit and to his relief found that it had not been completely crushed. John Lee was unconscious though which was still cause for concern for the tough lieutenant. He pulled his friend out and checked for a pulse. John Lee was alive, but barely.Shiro ran over to Hercules and helped him pick John Lee up.‘How bad is he Hercules?’ said Shiro.‘Bad! Pretty bad! said Hercules.At that point the Delta-Z stood upright, picking up the Dai-X’s torso with it’s drill appendages. As it did so, It turned to face the three Star Fleet pilots.‘Say goodbye to the Dai-X!’ said Makara, as the Delta Laser ignited once more and slowly cut through the centre of the mechanoid, from the top of its head unit all the way down to its lower torso.The Delta-Z’s drill units retracted leaving the two parts of the once mighty Dai-X to fall to the ground.‘My god!’ said Hercules.‘Come on! We need to head for the high ground! said Shiro.The two of them shocked by the loss of the Dai-X picked up their injured friend and made their way up a ridge that overlooked the great chasm below. At the bottom of this 3 mile drop, resided the recently re-imprisoned Omnibeast within The Temple of the Ancients.
Makara laughed and the Delta-Z laughed too accompanied by the intermittent laughter of another, far away in the distance.‘Oh, this is delicious!’ said Makara, ‘I’ve defeated your great red monster, now I will swat you like the pathetic insects you truly are!’The Delta-Z stomped up the ridge behind the escaping trio. Makara was playing with them; she could snuff their lives out with one thought; one final blast from her lethal Delta Laser, but it was much more fun watching them scurry away in fear.The trio made it to the top of the ridge, but now had nowhere left to go.In front of them stood the dreaded Delta-Z. Behind them was the gaping chasm.This was the end of the road.Makara teased them with the claw-like hand of the Delta-Z. The razor sharp pincers snapped dangerously close to the three of them, but without ever striking flesh.'How does it feel?' said Makara, 'To live in fear! To suffer! I endured a living hell after your attack. I vowed to destroy the monster and its three beating hearts. Well, the monster is slain and one of its hearts has almost stopped beating.''Damn you Makara!' said Hercules.'Now is that anyway to speak to someone who is willing to offer you salvation? I offer you a bargain. Throw your injured friend into the chasm below and I will spare your lives!''You are sick and twisted, Makara!' said Shiro.'Lady, you must have a screw loose if you think we'd go for that!' said Hercules.'Then you will all die!' said an angry Makara, as she prepared to lash out with her razor sharp claw hand.With nowhere to run, Shiro and Hercules' instincts took over. After a brief knowing look at each other they threw themselves and John Lee off the ridge and into the gaping chasm below.Makara watched on as Shiro, Hercules and John Lee bodies fell and were claimed by the darkness of the chasm. Although she would have preferred to have made the killing blow, she was quite satisfied that the red monster that had haunted her dreams for so long was dead along with its three human hearts.'Final revenge is mine!' cried out Makara, ecstatic in her victory. The Delta-Z also accompanied her jubilation with a synthesized roar of its own that echoed throughout Gelma 2.When the twisted cries of triumph had died away, Makara noticed the sound of distant thunder and an unnatural laughter that was more terrifying than her own. This had been present throughout her battle with the Dai-X and was now getting louder and louder.She decided to investigate the sound and flew off in the direction of the unearthly cackling. She weaved in and out of canyon walls and after crossing a mighty ridge she located the source of the dread tones. In a massive clearing, bolt after bolt of lightning was striking a single point. The strikes continued in there frequency until all was light and sound.Then... there was silence for a few brief seconds before the unholy rocky ground started to give birth to an age old evil.Rocks came together and formed a body, then arms and legs and finally a head. A familiar head.'I am reborn!' boomed the giant rock-like figure.'Imperial Master!' said an awestruck Commander Makara. A short while after, the crippled X-Bomber flew into the vacated battle-zone that had been the theatre of battle for two titanic confrontations that day.Professor Hagen and Emma Steel looked in horror at the scattered burnt out wreckage of the Dai-X.'Oh no! My son, Hercules, Lee, what have I done?!' said the Professor.'Shiro!' said Emma, who feared the worst after seeing the burning remains of the Dai-X.'PPA! Scan the area for life forms!' said the Professor.'Who could have done this?' he thought, 'There was no sign of the Omnibeast at all. It couldn't have been its handiwork because if it was still free, this sector of space and all those residing within it would now cease to exist.''No sign of any life forms Professor!' said PPA, 'I'm not reading any energy signatures pertaining to either the Omnibeast or Shiro, Hercules and John Lee.''Widen the scan, they can't be dead!' said a tearful Professor.'I've widened the scan!' said PPA, 'I'm now reading two energy anomalies. One is most peculiar the other is incomputable!''Give me a visual on the main view-screen!' said The Professor.Professor Hagen and Emma Steel were struck dumb at what they saw.They were white as ghosts as they looked at the image of the reborn Imperial Master and his mechanoid second in command.'No! He's back!' said the Professor, 'What could have become of Lamia?''It was their war that got us into this mess!' said an enraged Emma, 'Because of her and those freaks out there, Shiro, Hercules and Lee are dead! Well, she's not around to answer for this, but they are!' With that, Emma ran off of the bridge and headed to the ship's docking bay.'Emma wait!' said the Professor, 'We can't engage the enemy like this. We need to inform Star Fleet Command!'The Professor wanted to strike out at the Imperial Master and his servant every bit as much as Emma, but it would be suicide. Countless star systems would suffer if they were not forewarned of the rebirth of The Imperial Master. They were obligated to send the word back to earth or Shiro, Hercules and John Lee's sacrifice will have been for nothing.'PPA! Lock the docking bay and take us out of Gelma 2 through the hole in the planetary defence system!''Yes Professor!' said PPA in a sad tone. His logic circuits concurred with the Professor's course of action. The human part of his programming, however, wanted to avenge his friends.Emma Steel jumped into her battered X-Fighter, she knew she had no chance of defeating The Imperial Master and The Delta-Z, but she didn't care. She didn't want to live without Shiro.She tried again and again to fire up her fighters engines, but to no avail. PPA had locked down the bay and all the craft inside it.Emma punched her console and broke down in tears. She hated the Professor for bringing them all here on the whim of Lamia who was now nowhere to be seen. She could feel the X-Bomber beginning to soar upwards. They were leaving.'I'll get them for you Shiro!' said Emma, 'There will be another time. You, Herc and Lee will be avenged!'On Gelma 2 The newly reborn Imperial Master was wasting no time in implementing a new plan for galactic domination.'You have done well Makara!' said The Imperial Master, 'Together we will rebuild the Gelma Empire and crush all those that oppose our conquest!''By your divine guidance!' said Makara.'You have exacted a most terrible revenge on your enemies and you have helped bring about my re-birth. There is to be a new executive council and you will be by my side at the head of it!''You are most generous Imperial Master!' said Makara.'Now, there is much work to be done!' said The Imperial Master, 'We will travel to Gelma and from there we will recall the Alliance fleet. My time in the ethereal realm has taught me patience. We will build our forces and when the time is right we will reduce the planet called Earth to cinders!'

woah!!!! so is that it? or will it continue in the story you mentioned the other day?wow you destroyed Dai-XI sense some sort of save by the Great skull and some sort of retro fit steampunk dai-X retruning from the mecha grave.AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, the story continues in Star Fleet: The Council of Evil which will be a short story (around 4 or 5 thousand words). It's mainly going to centre around the all new executive council that The Imperial Master mentioned in the final part of the last chapter, but it will also reveal the fate of The Great Skull, Shiro, Hercules, John Lee and Lamia.Then after that it's back on track with Return of the Dai Warriors which will complete the story arc.Yeah, Dai-X Mk2 bought it, but a Mk3 is on the cards. It would be rude not to!X-Bomber's getting steampunked in ROTDW and then maybe that will spin off into Star Fleet: Steampunk.

Congratulations and well done!!!I know how tough it is to actually finish such a huge project, startin' 'em is the easy bit... I have to say, an AWESOME read, gripping from beginning to end, and still so much to tell in the next story.What a blockbuster.Quite shocking that the Dai-X has been destroyed, that really made me stop in my tracks!!! I wasn't expecting that.I do hope that a new Dai-X appears though, as it's such a great creation, and part of the SF fittings.I wonder if the new Dai-X will be a Steampunk version or not?Questions questions...The TCOE story really does need to be told, to properly link TROM with ROTDW.I'm sure you'll enjoy writing about the new Thalian Imperial Executive Council, I really loved writing about all things Thalian in my TRA story, there's so much fun to be had Plus we need to know the fate of the "good guys" and how they end up with the Great Skull.I wonder if the Great Skull might just take the opportunity to grab the subdued final 7th Omnibeast to go in his ship's hold?I like the sound of Star Fleet:- SteamPunk! It's a great forum this!

Aw, thanks very much. It was difficult keeping the momentum going at times though. I think there was a one year gap between chapter 4 and 5 and then the remainder was wrtten over the course of the last 6 months.What's truly scary is that certain plot points, characters and mecha had been designed over ten years ago in the form of drawings, a ten page comic and a trailer.Well, I got there eventually.

I've written a prologue and an epilogue for TROM which I'll present here:prologueIn the ethereal plane where we now reside, I foresee the coming storm. Helpless to warn the chosen one, I wait in hope that she may one day hear my spirit's call.You see, I exist in abstract terms now; neither alive nor dead; a mere facet of her shining jewel.I am everything and nothing!We tirelessly watch over our prisoner, but he is as cunning as he is evil. I wonder if such dark powers can be contained indefinitely, and contemplate the demon seeds he may have already planted in the corporeal soil.My father once told me a proverb; told to him by the greatest of us, which in turn he had learnt from a 16th century Earth poet:"While you are meditating revenge, the devil is meditating a recruit."I sense others in the corporeal plane in such meditation. One in particular - a mere flicker of light slowly ebbing away, but kept alive by a desire for revenge!epilogueAnd so once more I am whole, and have become ruler of the ethereal realm. I have everything it would seem, but without her, without my true compatriot; I have nothing. I no longer sense her presence either here or in the corporeal plane.I only hope that someone so powerful; so pure in heart and mind could not perish so easily and will return to me one day. I will wait patently until that time.Her brave friends from Earth have made the ultimate sacrifice. I will honour them as I know they honoured her. Their universe will not fall into darkness without a fight. So vows Captain Halley!I've also compiled the story into one complete .rtf file now which can be found at x-archive. I don't have word so it was compiled in works, which isn't ideal and I've noticed it doesn't quite present itself properly when viewed in word (compatibility mode).So I was wondering if someone would be kind enough to download it, fix the problem and then re-upload it to x-archive. Also, if some kind soul could make it into a pdf, that would be even better. I'm not so hot at word processing. Original file can be found here:http://www.xbomber.co.uk/xarchiv....y_media